Ravage D.C.X. is the rare first-person shooter in which you have no control over your character's movement, only the direction of the shooting. The camera view whips back and forth according to the programmer's plan, leaving you to aim crosshairs while trying to destroy waves of alien bad guys. You fly funny planes, drive peculiar tanks, or simply hoof it through six dimensions of exploding madness.

On the positive side, the environments look better than many shooters, supported by the box boast that gameplay graphics "look better than most cut-scenes." Indeed, it's very impressive until you realize that in-game graphics aren't better than cut-scenes, they are cut-scenes, with the various flying and driving machines of the enemy superimposed.

Watching cut-scenes repeat endlessly isn't a solid basis for exciting gameplay, and the repetitive nature of enemy movements after you've been killed relegates the exercise to one of memorization to defeat the enemy on the next try. It becomes a task of endurance, especially since the average and difficult settings simply mean going through each segment repeatedly until you get it right.

The very format eliminates the accepted premise of what's fun about first-person shooters. Despite the wide variety of weapons available and the level of anatomical detail visible when the enemy is eviscerated by an explosion, the real draw of a FPS should be the "first-person" part, where you have control over the exploration of the surroundings, not just rampant death and destruction.

Graphics: Not only do the backgrounds look good, but the camera movement is effective as well.

Sound: A wide range of explosions and engine noises entertains the auditory nerves.

Enjoyment: It's not much fun to control only the shooting, with no chance to direct character movement.

Replay Value: Since you'll need to replay nearly every section numerous times to just get through them, replaying the whole game isn't an attractive prospect.